updated 03:15 pm EDT, Tue October 13, 2009

Plastic Logic says bookstore rep wrong

Plastic Logic today denied reports that it would have a color e-book reader ready by spring. The company tells PCPro that the Barnes & Noble contact was "misinformed" and further insists he wasn't speaking in an official capacity for the American book retailer. A color reader is still in development but isn't due to ship this year, a spokesperson says.

While Fujitsu has a color reader on the market, the majority of reader designers have so far said that even 2010 would be too early as the color accuracy, brightness and other factors will need time to develop. Amazon has acknowledged that it doesn't expect color Kindles for multiple years while others have suggested that tablet computing devices with color LCDs may have to fill the niche.

Plastic Logic has yet to release its own reader but could have a grayscale version as early as this month.